What’s in a Name? Mazda Savanna RX-3 and RX-7


Mazda knew it had something special when it created the RX-3. Back in the early Seventies Mazda was dropping rotaries in everything it could get its hands on. The Familia Rotary (R100) was getting on in age and had been named so because it started out as a family sedan. The bigger and heavier Capella (RX-2) was named after the brightest star in the Auriga constellation. The RX-3 would slot right in between them, the sportiest rotary yet, and Mazda was sending it into battle against the Celica 1600GT and hakosuka Skyline GT-R. So how did Mazda choose its name? 


According to Mazda, it wasn’t named after the city in Georgia, the vast African grasslands, or the bottle blonde pole dancer down at the local gentleman’s club. It was named after NS Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship. Pretty ballsy for a car from Hiroshima.

[Image: Unkar]

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5 Responses to What’s in a Name? Mazda Savanna RX-3 and RX-7

  1. Tyler says:

    Wow, that’s really interesting. Thanks for the tidbit! Now, why was the FD not a Savanna?

  2. Nigel says:

    This just makes me wan’t an RX-3 or sa22c RX-7 more !

  3. boyee says:

    very cool to know a little bit more about mazda’s heritage

  4. rotahed says:

    hey that dark green rx3 is PERTANO’s old rx3 that was sold on ebay and went to kiwiland

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